Signal device for motor vehicles



Sept. 9 1924. H. MAYER SIGNAL DEVICE For: -Mo'ron vnHIcLns Filed Dec. l, 1922 Patented Sept. 9, 1924. i

- UNI-TED. STATES. PATENT ntiran'ifv` MAYBE, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS;

SIGNALf DEVICE FOR MOTOR /VIElI-I-ICLES.A

Appnea-tion'nieanecemberq 1, 1922. serialz Nb'. `604310.

T 0 all-whom z'mag/ concern: c

Be'it known that-I, HARRY MAYER, a-eiti Zen ofthe United States, and a resident ot'- Chicago,in the county` of"Goolr and State of Illinois, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Signal Devices for Motor Vehicles, of which the-followingis a full, clear', and exact description.

My inventionvv relates to. improvementsin signals for- ;motor vehicles, l and itl consists in the,4 combinations, constr-uctions, .and ar-` rangements herein describedfand claimed.

An object of my inventionr is to provide a signal device of. the character described which consistsv in the provision of a single unit which may be fixed-upon the rear of the motorv vehicle and operated from thedrivers seat' to` indicate the direction y in which v the vehicle is aboutto rbevturned;

A further object of my invention is to provide la device of the character describedA in which a stencil is employed and light projected throughv the stencil, and in which the stencil is actually changedl to provide onevof three different legends, each oli-which has a particular signicance tol vehicle drivers who arein afposition to observe the signal device. l

A further object of my invention is to providea signal ,device ofthe character def scribed in which thechange of the stencils is brought about when 'the-lamp for illuminatingl the stencil is extinguished, thereby precluding the possibility of Aconfusion to persons who may' watch the signal device to ascertain Ythe direction in which thev ve`v hicle-is'about to turn;

A further object Kor4 my invention `is to provide a .signal devicek of thecharacter Zwhich also'includes the provision-of astop signal` which isA 'automatically actuated.V by the foot brake or anyY otherv well known means..`

A further objectfof invention isv to'.

' provide ai signal devficeJof the'character de-Y scribed @that is extremely simple. in construction, that may be readily applied .to the ordi.- nary typeofmotor vehicle,y and which is thoroughly tended'.

Other inY the following' specification, and the novel eaturesjnof the invention will .befpiarticularlyt Y pointed lout inthe appendedclaim.

Y inventionisillustrated ,in the aoooin`- 1 practicalor the purpose in-` objects and; advantages willl appear.l

panying.` drawings, forming part of thisIap-l. plication, linwhich- Figure lI isa perspective 'view of that portion of the signal-device that is intendedl tor the observationI of other vehicles'or'pe-i destrians. The. device isshown' applied-,tovI

kthe Vrear fender of a-motor vehicle` Figure 2 is a sectionalviewthro-ugh that portion or" the signaldevice shown'- in :I Tigure.A

1,'and istalen ure 3, t v

Figurev 3 is a sectionalvi'ewf along the line 3 3 of Figure 2, y -Figure tisa top planY view of the. manually operated switch and clutch rod for 'operating the device,

Figure 5 is a perspective view along the line 2 2 of Figofi the mechc anism illustrated in Figure 4 operatively applied to the dash and motorvehicle, and` Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view ,of the:

tion of the signal device whichv is intended. i

for' the Vobservation of vehicles limmediately mechanism is more clearly .illustratedin Figures-2'andi3 andl consists 1n` a housing 3" substantially V-shaped in cross section .and

having-thefvforward orfopen end provided, with a radially outwardly extending-flange' f 4. A glass 5 issecured in place upon the flange lf by means of a- ,retaining ring 4a, asshown in Figure 2. The. glass 5 consists of a; transparent-:tinted glass. I `prefer to employ the ruby tint ordinarilyy used in the electrical connections :employed in operating i makeV use behind the .vehicle lor pedestriansfy 'Iliisy l tail. lampor l stop signalofmotor. vehicles. A metal stencil fis fixed wthin'the vhous- 5 ing 3 and is provided with a'stencil-'o'pening representing a two-headedarrow 7, asshownl in Figuref3,,the head portions .ofthe arrow being V` indicated at 8f and 9, .one of; which is pointed towardthe left side otthe stencil, and1 the other. of which is y. pointed ,toward4 the right Side of the-steneil.- The reenforc ing rib IO is' leftlbe tween thefadjacent por# tions 1l and 12 ofthestemo-thearrow substantially at the lcentral, point thereof. j The fourV sides :ofthe stencil l6 arefprovided. with laterally bent portions 13, which 'por-v tions are bent at an angle of substantially 45 degrees from the rear face of the stencil. These laterally bent portions further serve to hold the stencil in place in the housing 1 and may be welded to the housing or fixed thereto by any well known means.

The member 6, which I have heretofore referred to as a stencil, I shall designate as the stationary element of the stencil. A movable element 14, which is in itself a stencil, as in 'the case of the element- 6, is

provided and is arranged to closely con- L row 7 is shielded from behind so that light,

as from a lamp 16 disposed at the rear of the housing 3, will pass through the combined stationary and movable elements of the stencil, and the beam of light will have the shape of an arrow pointing to the right. If, however, the movable element 14 of the stencil is moved -to the opposite vend of the stencil 6, the light passing therethrough from the lamp 16 will be in the form of an arrow with its head pointing to the left. A reflector 17 is provided in back of the lamp 16 and serves to direct the light rays which are emitted from the lamp 16 through the stencils 6and 14.

A supporting member 18 is fixed to the housing 3 and furnishes a suitable means for fixing the housing upon the rear fender 19 of the motor vehicle 1, or the front fender thereof as the case may be.

Means for manually actuating the stencil 14 is provided as follows. A flexible wire 20, usually a braided wire, is soldered, as at 21, to the lower portion 15 of the stencil 14 and is conducted thro-ugh la flexible tube 22 which is securely fixed to the stencil 6 at 23 by solder or the like. This tube yI lchoose to construct of a spiral wire which is closely wound so as to have the advantage of flexibility. The opposite end of the tube 22 is passed under the. body of the vehicleA and up to the dash 2 where it is fixed by a strap 24 to an insulating plate 25, which plate is secured to the underside of the dash 2 of the motor vehicle so that the forward end 27 thereof projects slightly in front of the dash. The wire y2O of course extends entirely through the tube and yis soldered to a rela-tively rigid rod 28 at 29, a point immediately adjacent the strap 24, yet within the tube 22. The rod 28 is The plate 25 is provided with a pair yof contacting members 33 and 34, each'having The shoes 35 of the,v

two contact shoes 35. Contact members 33 and 34 are in registration with one another but normally apart. The contact members 33 and 34 are disposed one cn either side ofthe rod 28 so that when the rod 28 is oscillated longitudinally, the metal contact member 32 will bridge the spaced apart contact members 35 at one? end of the plate and the rod is at one end of its oscillatory movement and jwill bridge the shoe 35 at the opposite end of the plate when the rod is at the other end of its oscillatory movement; Normally when the signal device'is not in use, the laterally bent portion 31 of the rod is in the position shown in Figure 4and indicated generally at 36. in Figure 4 presents the rod 28 in a position with its laterally bent portion 1 31 closest to the dash. l/Vhenthe rod is in this The device as shown in full lines position, the movable stencil element`14 is i at the end of the stencil 6 shown in-Figure 3 and the lamp of course is illuminated. Means for illuminating the lamp when the rod 28 is oscillated at'the limit of its oscillatory movement is provided in afbaty tery 37, one pole of which, is connected directly to the lamp by means of a conductor 38 which may be the ground or frame of thev car` The opposite pole 39 of the battery is vconnected to the lamp 16 throughy the switch formed by the oppositely disposed E members 35 of the contact plates 33 and 34. The current will pass from one shoe to another through the metal band 32, since that band is in contact with the shoes 35. If, however, theband 32 is in the positionshown in dotted lines in Figure 4, then the lamp 16 will not be illumunated and the movable stencil ele/nient 14 will be in `a position exactly in' registration withfthe central portion 39 of the stationary stencil element 6.

legend which represents a two-headed arrow. .A switch 40 is 'further included in" the electrical circuit shown inl Figure 6 and-l is closed by the yapplication of the brake in a manner well known and described in-'fthe many patents on" stopvlights f and switches for operating stop lights. This construction is so common that it is lnot deemed; necessary to described it other than mention l. that'the switch 40, iS e SWtCh that' iS 01361 yThe stencil will then' bear a" ated by means of a cord or the like secured I to the brake rod and which switch will close only when the brake rod is moved to apply the brake.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood. Normally, when my signal device is not in use, the rod 28 is disposed so that the contact member 32 is in the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 4 when the laterally bent portion 31 is in that position indicated at 36 in Figure 4. The movable element of the stencil 14 will then be in exact registration with the intermediate portion 39 of the stencil 6. The openings through the two stencils will then be in the shape of a twoheaded arrow.

If at this time the driver o-f the vehicle applies his brakes, movement of the brake rod will actuate the switch 40 (see Figure 6) and the lamp 16 will become illuminated and the two-headed .arrow formed by the combined stationary and movable stencils, will be Visible and warn drivers of motor vehicles in the rear that the vehicle is about to stop or slack up.

If the driver of the motor vehicle desires to indicate to those in the rear that he is about to' turn to the right, he will mannally move the lever 28 to the position that is indicated in the full line in Figure 4. The contact member 32 will then bridge the contact members 35 adjacent to the rear of the plate 25. The lamp 16 will burn and the movable stencil element 14 will lie in the position shown in the full lines in Figure 3, it having been moved to that position by virtue of the movement of the wire 2O which is secured to the rod 28 and moved therewith. The vehicles in the rear of the vehicle 1 will thereupon observe an arrow pointing to the right. This arrow will be in the form of a red illuminated arrow and may be clearly observed.

If, however, the driver wishes to inform those in the rear that he is about to turn to the left, he will move the lever 28 to the position shown in outermost dotted lines in Figure 4. The lamp 16 will burn because ofthe contact ofthe metal ring 32 with the shoes 35 at the end of the plate 25, and the movable element of the stencil 14 will bemoved to a'position at the opposite end of the stencil element 6 from that position viewed in Figure 3.- The arrow formed by the movable and lstationary stencil mem-, bers'14 and 6 will lthereupon point tothe left and will be illuminated. i

I do not limit the use ofv my signal to a horizontal position, since-the same may be used in avertical position as a tralic signal.

The signal, when not in use, will appear as a mere tinted glass. The interior of the housing being in darkness by this fact, no part of the stencil or legend will be Visible through the colored lens 5. When operated as described, eachlegend will be vstenciled by rays of light on the colored lens 5 as` shown vin Figure 1, and be visible night or day.

I claim:

A sig-nal device of the character described comprising a source of light, a stationary stencil placed in front of said light having an opening therethrough in the shape of an arrow having a pointed head at each end thereof, a movable element arranged toV vslide laterally mounted in the rea-r of said stencil and arranged to be entirely concealed` whenfsaid movable element is midway be-` tween the tips of said arrow-shaped opening v in said stencil, said movable element having slotstherein arranged to register with the opening in said stationary stencil form-A ing the shaft of said arrow, whereby said movable element when moved to either end of said stationary stencil may close that vpart of the opening forming the head of `the arrow adjacent to the movable stencil.

HARRY Marian.` 

